New Age Artists

Chapter 497 Breaking the Record! Knowing the Basics! (33)

The box office of "Lost on Journey" once again demonstrated Shen Santong's strong appeal.

It was released on January 1, with 17% of the screenings and screens, and grossed million at the box office on the same day.

It took 87% of the market share, breaking the first-day record set by "Red Cliff".

Due to good word of mouth, the box office rose on Sunday and grossed another 65 million.

The box office grossed 128 million in two days.

Including the preview screenings, the total box office exceeded 140 million.

Shanghai Propaganda.

Shen Santong was interviewed by reporters.

The reporter asked: "Lost on Journey has once again set a series of box office records. What do you think?"

Shen Santong was very modest: "I would like to thank the audience, the creative team for their work on and off the stage, and I would also like to thank the competent authorities and theater workers."

“The success of the movie Lost on Journey was achieved on the basis of the development of the industry.”

“Distribution is becoming more mature, and national screenings with unified scheduling and screenings are basically mature.”

"Especially as digital cinemas are increasing at an alarming rate, distribution costs are falling."

"In terms of cinemas, thanks to the foresight and vigorous promotion of the film authorities, we have surpassed the world in digital technology and are now at the forefront."

“By the end of 2002, 16 digital cinemas had been established in 35 cities across the country, second only to North America, making it the fastest growing country in the world.”

"After the release of the Outline for the Development of Digital Film, the development of digital cinemas has entered a rapid development stage. Since 2005, the number of digital screens has almost doubled every year."

"In 2007, the total number of digital screens increased by 315% year-on-year. In 2008, the number of digital screens increased rapidly to 1600, which is one-third of the current screens, and is still developing at an extremely fast pace."

"My film achievements are inseparable from infrastructure construction and industry development."

Shen Santong downplayed his own contribution.

Looking at the movie rankings, Shen San Tong is not just far ahead, he is far ahead.

"Red Cliff (Part 2)", "Happy Birthday 1", "Happy Birthday ", "Crazy Stone" and "Crazy Racing", all of them were either directed by him or were mainly produced by him.

With his current achievements, he doesn't need to highlight himself, he is already eye-catching enough.

The credit goes to everyone.

All he needs is the box office.

The reporter asked: "Director Shen, is your Lost on Journey aiming at the record of Red Cliff?"

Shen Santong is still modest when talking about the development of the industry: "Records are meant to be broken. They are just data. I think the development of the industry is more important."

"Lost on Journey" was shot with a digital camera. I started making digital films in 07. I hope to achieve full digitalization of films in a few years."

"I want to tell everyone through Lost on Journey that low-cost digital movies do not mean low-quality."

"The film shooting and production process has basically been digitized, and films can be produced at a lower cost, which will bring greater dividends to the film industry."

The reporter asked: "Don't you have any expectations for the box office?"

Faced with this question, it would be hypocritical for Shen Santong to answer that he had no expectations.

It’s like saying that you don’t care about money. If you don’t care about money, why do you go and work for Mayi Financial?
"Of course I have expectations. The box office represents the support and love of the audience, and the audience's vote with real money."

"But I think it's hard for Lost on Journey to surpass Red Cliff, which is a blockbuster."

"To break through the box office ceiling, we still have to rely on blockbusters."

"Compared to the box office, I hope to make the Spring Festival box office more successful."

"The cultural demands of the audience are constantly increasing, and we need more good schedules."

"I said at the start of filming of Lost on Journey that the Spring Festival is the most important festival of the year for us and has the potential to become the number one box office period."

"Box office is the hard truth. Previously, the Lunar New Year period and the Spring Festival period were lumped together. I think there should be a distinction gradually."

"For me, making more good movies and making them a success during the Spring Festival is my biggest expectation for the next few years."

“I also hope that my peers can join us and work together to make domestic films bigger and stronger.”

Shen Santong’s most important label today is that he is the flag bearer of domestic films.

Competitors privately gave him derogatory titles like "the boss" because they were jealous of him for monopolizing the entire schedule.

But that is someone else's problem. What Shen Santong needs to do is to constantly strengthen the label of "domestic film".

Make it during the Spring Festival, and then associate this achievement with the label of "domestic film".

He doesn't take credit for himself, but he can ask the public relations department to release press releases to make sure people know about his contributions to the industry.

In the past, "Avatar" was the first to open the Spring Festival box office in mainland China.

这部电影在米国是2009年12月16日上映，但在东大按照惯例，延后到2010年1月4日上映。

The Lunar New Year period is reserved for domestic films, and Hollywood Christmas blockbusters will be postponed in the East, including Hollywood's best-selling Star Wars series.

This is where the film regulatory authorities play a role.

If the decision were left to the cinema chains, they would not care about the life or death of domestic films and would definitely give the prime time slots to Hollywood films to make box office money.

After the release of "Avatar", the box office was extremely popular and had strong staying power, becoming a cultural phenomenon and remained popular until the Spring Festival.

For a long time, everyone thought that during the Spring Festival, audiences would not go to the movies.

"Avatar" made the industry realize the potential of the Spring Festival period.

So, Stephen Chow took action. In 13, after a lapse of 5 years, Stephen Chow's movie "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was released on the first day of the Chinese New Year and won the annual box office championship in one fell swoop.

The following year, another Journey to the West-themed film, "Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven", once again won the annual box office champion for domestic films, and the mainland Spring Festival box office became popular.

After "The Mermaid" broke the 2016 billion mark in 30, no one doubted the box office magic of the Spring Festival anymore.

In 2017, the single-day box office on the first day of the Lunar New Year exceeded 8 million yuan, and the single-day box office record for Chinese films has gradually been held by Spring Festival films.

The Spring Festival period has also become a very crazy and highly-competitive period.

Looking at the history of Chinese commercial films, we can find that many private film practitioners have no sense of autonomy and no enterprising spirit.

Many groundbreaking things are done by functional departments that are stereotypically "unenterprising".

Han Sanping created the New Year's Day box office, implemented the blockbuster strategy, and created a mainstream film brand.

China Film Corporation wants to make science fiction films. "The Wandering Earth" is promoted by China Film Corporation. It is also training new directors and sending a group of directors to Hollywood to study.

The reporter asked about the plot of the movie: "Director Shen, there is controversy about the plot of the movie."

"What exactly is it?" Shen Santong asked her to explain clearly.

The reporter said: "Celamine, some people criticized you for making excuses for Sanlu."

Shen Santong expressed his attitude: "First of all, I want to say that these criminals deserve to die. They have harmed many infants and young children."

"When I was filming Lost on Journey, melamine hadn't been exposed yet. I looked up information, discovered the problem, and wrote about it."

"In the tainted milk powder incident, the person in charge of Sanlu and the manufacturer of melamine have been arrested, which shows that our country has a strong enforcement capability to maintain food safety and also proves our ability to correct mistakes."

"My films all have very clear attitudes, and the plots in the films are about liars."

"The first few versions written, without subsequent reversals, were designed to be scammers committing fraud in order to do good things."

"Later, I was still dissatisfied and did some research. I found that people did not know much about criminals like scammers and thieves, and there was a gray area."

“After several changes, it became the version presented in the movie.”

"My attitude is that black and white cannot coexist, and I will not give humanity to bad people."

"If someone is cheated by a liar once, or is robbed once, no one will forgive them. They will only face the law."

"There is no excuse for melamine. I support severe punishment. The plot in the movie is just a discussion of why some dairy farmers take risks."

Shen Santong explained it clearly.

Melamine was a hot topic last year, leaving the public with lingering fears.

It is mainly due to economic development. People’s lives have improved, they want to live longer, and they have higher requirements for food.

The 1980s and 1990s were an era of technology and hard work.

No technology, only hard work.

Shen Santong is absolutely clear about this.

He knows the basic situation. He is not a 3C e-commerce guy who is targeting the best quality group with more money and less work.

(End of this chapter)